How to Make Leather Tassels
Leather tassels are used as decorations on shoes, pillows and clothing. They can be long or short, thick or thin, or made of stiff or soft leather. Softer tassels use a swede type of leather. Tassels can be made from leather laces, which will be a slightly stiffer and thicker variety, or they can be made from a piece of leather cut into strips.
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Instructions
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Cut the leather into strips the desired length and thickness, if using a whole piece of leather, or cut leather laces into pieces the desired length. To determine the length, consider how long you want the tassel from the top of its head to its end and double that length. Each length will give you two strands in the tassel. Cut as many lengths as desired. The more strands that you use, the thicker the tassel will be.
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Cut a piece of leather cord to make the loop at the top of the tassel. Cut as long as desired, but cut it long enough to tie around the bundles and still have enough to tie into a loop. Use a longer piece if you want a larger loop.
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Fold the strips in half and gather together around the looping cord. Either fold them around the cord or fold and hold them then thread the cord through the doubled-over ends. Tie off the looping cord to hold the bundle together at the top.
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4
Cut a long piece leather cord for binding the tassel. It needs to be long enough to wrap around the tassel many times, so cut it long, as you can always trim it shorter. This piece will hold the tassel together. When finished, your tassel will have three parts: a looped-over head, a wrapped neck and a dangling body.
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Wrap the cord around the tassel. To start, hold the tassel doubled over and pinched tight. Wrap the cord end around the tassel, near the top, and tie it in a small knot. Now you have a head and the start of a neck. Cut off the excess cord on one side of the knot, leaving the other side long to be wrapped around the tassel. Use a dab of glue on the knot. Wrap the remaining end of cord around the tassel until the thickness of the neck looks balanced with the overall length (or body) of the tassel. Some people like a thick wrapping while others prefer a thinner one. When you get close to the end of the cord, or have wrapped as much as desired, tuck the cord's end under itself (under one or more of the rows wrapping around the tassel) and tie another small knot. Trim the excess. Use a dab of glue to hold the knot and finished neck securely.
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Trim the ends of the leather tassel. There will almost always be some strands that aren't exactly the same length as the rest.
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Tips & Warnings
Mix colored or metallic cord in with the leather strips to make them sparkly. Also, depending on the overall thickness of the desired tassel and the width of the leather, you can thread the strips through a large bead, using that for a neck instead of a cord wrapping. Glue will help hold the bead in place.
